Coney Island & The Polar Bears

Coney Island is composed of several parks within itself, and can tell a story with its photos alone. But, where is the fun in that, when there are incredible stories to be told? Coney Island was the home of the first baby incubators, a handlbar mustachioed lion tamer, "imps", and stories of fire and destruction.

At the close of the 1939 World's Fair, Tilyou's son Frank purchased the fair's Parachute Drop and moved it to his park. The ride, inspired by a training device for paratroopers, saw interest during the remainder of World War II, but declined after the end of the war. However, perhaps due to the expense involved in destruction, the ride outlived the remainder of the park, operating until 1964. Still too expensive to tear down, the tower was finally declared a landmark in 1977, (added to the National Register of Historic Places) and the city took the unusual step of declaring it a landmark again in 1988. Today it is the only remaining artifact of Steeplechase.

At the end of that season, the partners obtained a long-term lease for the site of an older amusement park, Sea Lion Park, and rebuilt it as Luna Park, the second major amusement park in Coney Island. Although they claimed the park was named after one of their female relatives, it was probably named for the ship. The architecture was quite fanciful, with thousands of electric lamps on the outside of the buildings at a time when electrification was still a novelty.

Dreamland was an ambitious amusement park at Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City from 1903 to 1911. It contained primarily freak shows.Opened on May 15, 1904, Dreamland was a park in which everything was reputed to be bigger and more expansive than in neighboring Luna Park, even boasting 4 times as many light bulbs than Luna Park. In a bid for publicity, the park put famous Broadway actress Marie Dressler in charge of the peanut-and-popcorn stands, with young boys dressed as imps in red flannel acting as salesmen. Dressler was said to be in love with Dreamland's dashing, handlebar-mustachioed, one-armed lion tamer who went by the name of Captain Jack Bonavita.

The side shows were owned by the Dicker family, who also owned the hotel next to the park. There was also a display of baby incubators, where premature babies, triplets who were members of the Dicker family, were cared for and exhibited. The doctors advised them of the new invention, but they could not use it because incubators were not approved for use in hospitals, so the triplets were placed in the side show, which was allowed. Two survived and lived on to have full lives until their death.

Astrolandwas first built as a "space-age" theme park when it opened in 1962, although in later years "a visit [was] more like stepping into the past than the future." Some of the later rides were similar to regular carnival rides, but others offered a kitsch experience that was lacking in modern amusement parks. In June 1975 Astroland was chosen to be the new operator of the Cyclone, the famous wooden roller coaster, which stood on Parks Department land.

An annual tradition, on January first, hundreds of like-minded (eccentric) individuals choose to greet the new year with freezing water to waken the senses and prove that they live life to the fullest.

You might expect New Yorkers to participate in something like this. But, you might not expect that this was established long before flash mobs and social media. The Coney Island Polar Bear club, which is the oldest "winter bathing" club in America was formed in 1903.

My first trip to visit Tom and his family was New Years Eve 2010, and I was told to bring a swimsuit. I had no clue why, and I listened. On January 1st he told me to don the swimsuit and we drove to Coney Island, where I found out that he planned on us participating in the swim... which did not happen. But it was hilarious to watch.

The chief polar bear blows into a conch shell, and all the participants run into the water, splash around, and run out. That was it. But then you saw people catching up, joking around and breaking the "antisocial New Yorker" stereotype. People seemed to know each other, and enjoy each others company. Julian Walter Photography wrote a great piece written about the event can be found here. You should click the link. He actually went into the water himself to get up close with the polar bears. Which takes dedication.... and a wetsuit.

I love all these pictures, you are right they could tell their own story! I think the polar bear swimming club story is great, I wouldn't have done it either! I don't even go in the glacier fed lakes up here in the middle of summer.

Stunning photography. I've never been to Coney Island, but would love to go. Here in Rochester we have something on a much smaller scale called Sea Breeze. The wooden coaster, The Jackrabbit, is the longest continuously run wooden coaster in the county. I love it.

The photos are actually from various photographers I've teamed with this month to showcase their work. Some are my own, it should say beneath each one. And I often live vicariously through others, glad to oblige :)

I haven't been to Coney Island, and I can't imagine myself getting into the water in the winter. Visiting from AtoZ List. BTW - we saw a Luna Park amusement park in Sydney and another in Melbourne - both Australia.